Machine for operating upon shoe-soles



v R. F. KNIGHT. MACHINE FOR OPERATING UPON SHOE SOLES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 30, I917- l,878,564=. Patented Apr. 5, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

R. F. KNIGHT. MACHINE FOR OPERATING UPON SHOE SOLES- APPLICATION FILEDNOV. 30, um.

1373,56 1. Patented Apr. 5, 1921.

2.8HEETS-SHEET 2.

WWI/II UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICEA RALPH r. KNIGHT, or BEVERLY,massaennsnr rs, assie von To UNITED subs OF NEW JERSEY.

MACHINERY CORPORATION, or rariiitso v, NEW- JERSEY, a COR MACHINE FOROPERATING UbON SHOE-SOLIDS.

. Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Ap1.'5, 1921 Applicationfiled November 30, 1917. Serial No. 204,637.

Toaill whomz't may concern: H

Be it-known that I, RALPH RKNIGHT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Beverly, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines forOperating Upon Shoe-Soles; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

sole molds or other instrumentalities.

The present invention relates to machines for operating upon solesbefore their incorporation in a boot or shoe, and more particularly tothe sole locating devices employed in connection with such machines.

One object of the present invention is to provide an improved form of.gaging mechanism which contacts with the side of a sole to position thelatter both laterally and longitudinally with relation to the operatinginstrumentalities. a

Sole blanks of different styles may vary considerably in their outlinebut in all sole blanks that portion of the curved contour adjacent thejunction of the shank and forejpart of the sole approximates an 8 curve.

According to the present invention this portion of the sole;edge isutilized to locate the solein the proper position relative 130th:feature of the present invention, then, contemplates the provision of asole gage having three separated and alined points which are constructedand arranged to simultaneously contact with the curved contour of thesole edge adjacent the junctionof the shankandforepart. a p j With thisconstruction, givenany particular shape'of sole blank and the properadjustment of the gage, there is only one position of the blank in whichall three points of the gage will contact with the edge of the sole. Itfollows, then, that after the gage has been preliminarily. adjusted tolocate any desired style of sole blank relative to the forms, all otherblanks of the same shape will be located in identically the samepos'tion with relation to the forms if the blanks are properlypositioned to cause'all three points of the gage tocontact with the soleedge. a I

The gage has especial'utilityin connec tion with the locating of blocksoles as the 8 curve bounding the sole at the junction of the shankandforepart consists of two arcs of equal radii with the point of tangencyof the arcs coincident with the point of inflectlon of the curve. Thesecurves are of a uniform size independently of the size of the sole andthe point of inflection of the curve bears a fixed relation to theoppositeends of the sole blank; A furthenfeature of the inventioncontemplates'the provision of a sole gage having three separated andalined points of contact spaced equidistant from one another to locatethe center point of the gage opposite the point of inflection of thecurve adjacent. the junction oflthe shankand forepart of thesole.

In the case of block soles a single adjust ment of the gage will.ordinarily serve to locate all sizes of soles with relation to the sameset of molds as theincrease in length of the soles is secured by theaddition of equal increments to opposite ends of the blanks, V I

Iii-order toproperly locate the soles with respect to various styles ofmolds and to permit the molding of sole blanks of different shapes, afurther feature of the invention consists in the provision of means foradjusting a gage ofthe three point-type both longitudinally andangularly of the sole blank and for retaining the gage in adustedposition.

advantages of which will'be apparent to those skilled in the art fromthe following description. a

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the preferred form: of theinvention,

Figure 1 represents a plan view, partly in section, of. the improvedgaging mechanism as applied to a 'sole moldlng machine; Fig. 2 'is aside elevation of the mechan sm shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a detail uponan enlarged scale illustrating agplan view, partly 111.58%

'ing mold (not shown) tion, of certain portions ofthe gaging mechanismFig. 14 is a detail showing a side ele- .vation of that portion of themechanism shown in Fig. 3 Fig. 5 is a detail illustrating a section ofthe dial and operating con nections taken at ri ht an les to the sectionshown in Fig. 3; and Fig. 6 is a detail showing'a vertical section ofthe detachable connection for the gage rod. I

The present invention is embodied in a sole molding machine otthe usualtype, comprising a sole supporting 'mold adapted to cooperate with theusual pressand secured to a mold slide ll which reciprocates in a head12. It is essential that the sole shall be located in a certain.sdefinite position with relation to these two forms de of the sole andthe style of the form. V According to the present invention the positionof the sole relative to the forms is accurately determined by a singlegage which contacts with the side otthe sole adjacent the junction ofthe shank and forepart and serves to locate the sole both laterally andlongitudinally of the forms. Block soles have substantiallythe shapeshown in the drawings in which oppositesides of the shank and forepa'rt,respectively, are bound ed by straight lines connected adjacent thejunction of the shank and forepart by S 7 curves;- As shown in: theillustrated.

embodiment of the invention, this 8 curve j from one anotherand areadapted to rest 7 upon the surface of the lower mold and con- .tact withthe edge of a sole, as shown. According to'the the size of the soleblank.

consist of two arcs of equal radii with the point of tangency of thearcs coinciding with the point of inflection of the curve, whichislocated in a certain fixed relation tothe' opposite ends of the soleindependently'of The sole gage comprisesessentially three separated and'alined points of contact, spaced equidistant from one another andadapted to engage simultaneously with three points on the curved soleedge. According to this construction, then, the center point of the gagewhen the soleispositioned properlywith respect to.:thegagelis locatedopposite the point of inflection of the curve.

As shown clearly in the drawings, the gage comprises a bar 15 havingthree ribs or lugs 16, 17 and 18, which form the contact points..These'. lugs are spaced equidistant approximately thesole is movedlongitudinally until all three of the contactpoints engage with the edgewhen, if theproper adjustments of the ga e have been made, thesoleshould be lo-' eated properly with respect to themolds. It will beobvious-that there can be only one position in whichthe sole edgecontactswith all. of the gaging points-and that in this position thesole is located both laterally and pendent uponthe shape usualpractice',

longitudinally with respect to the molds.

The gaging points are spaced 'sufiicient distance from oneanother-tocause them'to engage with asubstantial length of. the soleedge and insure theprope'r locating of the sole. H

In order to provide" both an angular and longitudinal adjustment of thegage the bar nally of the form and provided with teeth I 23 which areengaged by a pawl 24 loosely fulcrumed upon the pin 20and adaptedtoretain the slide 21 in adjusted position relatlVGItOthE rod 22. The pawl24 is'provided with a tail 25 engaged byascrew 26 which is threaded in aboss 27 formed upon'the bar =15. This screw, when adjusted'so that theend contacts with V latter in engagement with the teeth 28 to hold theslide in adjusted position, and in ,thepawl, retains the additiondetermines the angular position of the bar 15 with relation tothe.slide. For example after the screw 26 is adjustedto hold the pawl 24 in;engagement with the teeth. 23, a further adjustmentof the screw swingsthe bar '15 .aboutQtheiulcrum 20. The bar is yieldingly restrainedagainst outward swinging movement about-the fulcrum by a spring 28 whichconnects the. outer end ofthe bar with the slidej2l. shown clearly inFigs. 2 and 3, the opposite ends of 1 the spring are connected,respectively,to the lug 18 and a pin 30 depending'from the under side ofthe slide 21. In order to gage both the longitudinal: and angularposition ofthe gage the rod 22 is provided with a series of graduationsand the-bar 15' has a graduatedindicator 32 secured to'the outer endthrough a screw 33. By noting the poments oftheforms into pressingposition by mechanism similar. to that disclosed in the patent to. Heys.l To.-.1-,222,866, v dated April 17 1917. According to this construe aninoperativepo'sition prior to the move tion the rod22, which extendslongitudinally of the form, is fulcrumed at the end opposite fromthegaging device upon the mold slidell. Asshown in Figs. land 2Hofthedrawings, a bracket'35 issecured to the mold slide and carries a.vertical rockshaft .36

in which theendof the rod is adjustably secured The opposite end'ofthejrod, or thatwh ch carriesthe gage, is connected with .a'cain member3-7 supported fromthe frame of the machine and having a receding por ton 'Wl'lICll permitsthe gage: to swing away from the mold lOupon ahorizontal movement of, the mold-i slide to carry the mold 10 intoalinement with the pressing mold. The end oi the rod 22 is yieldinglyretained in engagement with the cam 37Vby a. spring :40 which isconnected between a fixedarm 4C1 formed upon the bracket 35 and an arm42 connected to move with the rod;22., ThisspringLO normally tends toswing the rod: 22 away from the .mold and maintains the free end of therod in ,contact with the cam 37.-

a 1 The importance of the angular adjustment-of the solegage ;willbeapparent to thosea'skilled in the art when'it is considered that theslope of thatportion of the sole edge with-which the gage contactsvaries not: only insoles ofdiiierent style and shape, but with solesofdifferent sizes: The fulcrum of the rod-22- is so located with respectto the gage that the change in the angular position of the gage, due toa lat 'eral adjustment of the cam 37, approxr mates the diiference inslope of the'sole edge for the smaller sizes ofsoles so that, in thenormal operation-0f the gaging idevice upon block soles, the adjustmentof the gage for different sizes may be secured merely by a lateral.adjustment" of the cam 37. I U

The cam 37 is a secured to the outer. end of a rod45 slidingly'supported in ahead 46 secured to" the frame of the machine. The rod 45is adjusted through arotary cam disk 47 provided with a spiral cam slot48 which receives a-p'in 49 secured to the end of the rod 45. Thus byrotating the cam disk 47 the cam 37 may be moved toward or from the formto "secure the proper lateral adjustments of the sole gagewheninbperative position. lt has been found that-different styles ofmolds of the same size require a different adjustment of the sole gage.To thisen'd it is advisable in molding'any particular style of sole tofind the proper adjustmentof the gage for that style and to set theindicating. dial in accordance with this adjustment. Thereafter theproper adjustments of the gage for different sizes "of the same stylemay be secured by turning the dial until the proper size is indicated.As shownlin the drawings, a'dial 50' is provided with an inclined face51 divided into'twenty equal {divisions and properly numbered, and theperiphery {of this dialis provided with a series of-"slots 52"spacedequidistant from one another and adaptedforthe reception of apin53,which is'secu'red to a diSlQSd; The disk 54 is formed integralwith the cam disk 47 and is' connected thereto by means of a hub 56,Cooperating with the "dial is a stationaryindicator member 58' which comrises a plate secured to the end of an over i'anging arm "60 supportedat its opposite end upon the bracket 46.' This irre t be sp QPe y1 m rkd r AA; to EE, indicating widths of soles from the narrowest to thewidest, lt willabe ob 'vious that when the pin 53 is received in one ofthGfSlOtS 52 of the dial, the latter willjbe connected directly to thecam disk 4:? 'anda rotationjoijthe diallwi ll then adjust the sole gagelaterally. ,,1n order toperm'it anindependentrotation ofthe dialrel:ative to. the cam-disk to secure ethe initial adjustmenti of the; dial,thelatter is loosely mounted upona sleeve ,61fi'orming an extension oftheghub 5'6 and journaled upon a'studfiQ secured in the bracket. 4i6,,as shown clearly in-Fig. 3: The dial'is nor mally retained in positionto cause the pin 53 toente'ronegof theslots by aspring63 received in arecess formedin'the, dial. and interposed betweenathe dial and; a collar64 secured to thesleevej61 througha pin65 as shown clearly. in Figs. ,3and 5. With this constru ction, byretrajcting the dialso that the pin53;is disengaged from one of the recesses 52,;the dial maybe freelyro-itated withoutzrotatin'g the" cam disklfl to properly adjust. the"dialfor; any given position of the sole gage; In "order to prevent therotationiofthe dialvfrom1being com municatedto'the cam disk when the'twoare disconnected, .affriction washer 66 is inter- "posed? between ;thecollar (Siand ajhead fi? formed upon; the end l-of: ithe stationary"According to theyusual operation, when it is' desired-lto moldanewordifferent style of solelthe s'ole gage is first adjusted properly tolocate the sole. relative to the molds and after this adjustment of thegage has been secured thedial 50 isturneduntil the proper number uponthe-.dial registers with the proper letter upon the indicator memberso-that the reading onthe dial and indicator member corresponds with theactual size oil the sole which is being molded. In this position of thedial the pin 53 'willwregi'ster with' one of the re, cesses formed inthe periphery of ,the, dial. :For example, when the dialas shown in thedrawings "ndicates that ,the sole being molded'iswanf, 8D, 'theapin 53may bereceived in the recess corresponding to 20 on the dial.After"thisjlpreliminaryl adjustment of the; sole 'ga'gesland 9 dial has,been made; all of the varvingisizes? of soles may be properly locatedrelative [to the :inolds by a simple turning ofithe dialto cause theindications of the length and""width:tovregister properly with oneanother. With this construction" it is vobviousvfthat ii? at vany futuretime it is desired. to inold this 'same style-of sole again theadjustment gof the gage can be-secured'l by making notations relative tothe angular and longitudinal :PO-

itions of the'gage, as well as :the position ofthepin 53 relati've' tothe dial.

V In orderto permit the gage to be swung into aninoperative positionwhen thelower mold isin a position-of presentationthe cam 37 issupportedin such a manner that it may beswung out of the way'whendesired. To this end the cam is provided with a hub [70 having ashoulder 71 which engages with a corresponding shoulder 72" formed upona support 73. A pin 74 passes through the hub 70-and is secured in thesupport 73. The'cooper'ating shoulders of the huband supportare-normally retained in contactby a spring 75 surrounding the pin "(4and pressing down upon the; hub to retain the latter in the positionshown in Fig; 4:. When it is desired to swing thecamout of the way, thehub is'merely lifted against the pressure" of the spring until theshoulder 71 clears the shoulder 7 2 when the cam-maybe swung bodily-topermit the movement of'the sole gage into an inoperative position.

The gage may be'easily removed from the machine by detaching the rod 22from the hub 80 in which it is received. To-this end therod is providedwith a groove orslot82 which is adapted to receivea spring pressed 7ball 83. J The ball is mounted within the hollow' bore'of a 'tubularextension'84 and is engaged by a spring 85 interposed between theballand a plug 86 threaded in -theupper end of the extension 84:." The arm42 is pro vided with a flat base portion 87which is held between the hub80 and the bracket 35,

as shown clearly in Figs. 2 and 6. In order to. prevent the arm fromturnlng relative to the hub SOthe'base'portion 87 is provided with anupwardlyjturned flange 89-which engages with the side ofthe hub, asshown clearly in the drawings. The shaft 36 is retainedin the'position'sho in the drawings through a collar 90 secured'to the shafton the opposite side of the bracket from the hub 80. It will thus beobserved that with this construction the rod'22together with the arm 42and the hub arelocked' together; In order to maintain the rod-22 againstaiturning movement in'the hub 80 a rectangular collar'92-is secured-tothe-rod and is designed to engage with the fiat base portion 87 when therod is in' position, as

shown clearly iniFig. 2. a I

- In order to provide a relatively quick and V substantial adjustment ofthe sole gagaior 'exampleto change-.thelatter from Inens to womensworkorvice versa, the end of the rod 22 is provided with: arectangularplate 77 which is connected to the rod through a fastener? 8 so that itis capable of assuming either the position shown in Fig. 4 ora positionin which the short side of the plate contacts with thecam 37. It will beobviousto those skilled'in'the art that'this plate serves to vary theposition ofthesole gage for the same adjustment of the cam 37 and inconsequence provides a'quick and convenient means for the gage. a

While it is preferred toemploy'the specific construction and arrangementof parts shown and described, it will be understood that thisconstruction and arrangement is securing a coarse adjustment of notessential except so far as specified in the'claims, and maybe changed ormodified V of the invention. r e t l The invention having beendescribed, what isclaimed'isr s 1.- A solemolding machine comprising asole supporting mold and 5a gage having three separated-points ofcontactadapted withoutdep'arting fromthe broader features tosimultaneously contact with the curved contour of-the sole edge at oneside and and locate the sole'in; a position predetermined by the gage. I3. A. machine for foperating -upon shoe soles, 'COIIIPI'lSlIlg a gagehavlng three separated points of contact adapted to simultaneously.contact with. the curved contour of the "sole edge adjacent theijunctionof the shank'and forepart, and means for adjusting the gage angularly- 1l 1 4. A f achinefor operating upon shoe soles, comprising a'gagehaving. three separated pointsaof contactadaptedto simultaneouslycontact with: the curved contour of the .sole'edg'eadj acent thejunctionof the shankand forepart, and means for adjusting the gage angularly andlongitudinally.

5.'A sole gage. having: three separated points of contact spacedequidistantfrom one another and adapted to simultaneously contact withthe curvedcontour of the sole edge at one side to position the sole bothlaterally and longitudinally. o 1 6. A machine for operating upon shoesoles comprising a-f sole gage, a camrfor adjusting the gage,connections between the camand gage, an indicating dial, and means 7for-normallylocking the dial to the cam including a diskic'onnected to,the cam, a pin projecting'from the disk, a'fianged hub upon the dialhaving a series of notches formed in the periphery, and a springreceived within, the/dial and normally ftending to move the dial towardthe disk tofcause the pin to enter one of thenotches in-the periphery.7. A sole molding machine, comprising a sole supporting mold, a;rodj.extending sub s'tantially lengthwise. ofthe mold, ahead, supported upon the rod and adjustable longitudinally thereof, means forindicating the position of thehead relative to the rod,a sole gagefulcrumed upon the head and adjustable angularly thereon, and means forindicating the angular position of the sole gage relative to the rod.

8. A sole molding machine, comprising a sole gage, a cam for moving thegage into and out'of operative position, means for adjusting the cam tovary the position of the gage, and connections between the gage and camfor adjusting the gage to change the position of the gage relative tothe cam.

9. A machine for operating upon soles comprising a sole mold, and a gagefor positioning the sole in a predetermined relation with respect to themold having three separated points of contact adapted to simultaneouslycontact with the curved contour oi": the sole edge at one side.

10. A sole molding machine, comprising a mold, a rod fulcrumed at oneend and extending lengthwise of the mold, means for adjustlng theangular position of the rod, a

head adjustable longitudinally of the rod, and a sole gage pivoted tothe head and adjustable angularly thereof.

11. A sole molding machine, comprising a rod having a plurality of teethformed thereon, a head slidingly supported upon a rod, a pawl carried bythe head and adapted to engage with the teeth, a sole gage pivoted uponthe head, a set screw threaded upon the gage and adapted to contact withthe pawl, and means for yieldingly swinging the gage to cause the setscrew to maintain the pawl in engagement with the teeth.

12. A sole molding machine comprising a sole supporting mold anda gagehaving three separated points of contact constructed and arranged tocontact with the curved contour of a sole edge upon opposite sides ofthe ball line to located the sole in a posir tion predetermined by thegage.

RALPH F. KNIGHT.

